Apparatus for making shoe shanks



Feb. 23 1926.

C C- CUNNINGHAM APPAHATUS FOR MAKING SHOE SHANKS Filed Jan. 19, 1924 2Sheets-Sheet l 5 i .52 @fi? 2 1 i- FIGC4 INVENTOR Cfiris etGCmnin ammfin Adm? ATTORNE S punched or pierced, cut oii' and bent to the holesinthe material, while the other por- T "steel shoe shanks, which arefitted to a shoe Patented Feb, 23, 1926.

unirsn's'ra'rss rarsn'r orrics.

CHRISTOPHER C. CUNNINGHAM, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, ASSIGNOE TO A.G. MOONEY LIMITED, F MONTREAL, QUEBEC. CANADA.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING SHOE SHANKS.

Application filed January 19, 1924. Serial No. 687,271.

To all whom it may concern.

:Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER C. CUN- NINGHAM, a subject of the Kingof Great Britain, ot the city of Montreal, in the Province of Quebecand; Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Apparatus for Making Shoe Shanks, and do hereby declarethat the following is a full, c1ear,'and exact description of myinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

- This invention relates to new and useful improvements in the apparatusfor forming heels, which may be, as is well known in the trade, Louis,Cuban, military or low heels. Sprin ribbon steel is used in themanufacture of the shanks, said steel, being of even temper andsubjected to the same pressures during manufacturing process, ensuresresults in which the shanks are of uniform shape and size.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the die and punch.

- Fig. 2 is a plan view of the die, for torn'iing the shank.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the punch and die showing the bending portionof the die.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the punch and die showing the piercing andshearing portion.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one modifica tionot' the punch and dieshown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the die shown in Fig. 5.

Figs. 7 and 8 are end views of the 1nodilied form of the punch and dieshown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the adjustable mechanism tor controllingthe bending of the shanks.

Fig. 10 is a sectional elevation of the die taken on the line 1010 Fig.5.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, and particularly toFigs. 1. 2, 3 and -l- 2O designates the base ot the die, a portion ofwhich is used for cutting and piercing the ribbon spring steel 21 andthe other portion is used for bending the steel into the form shown indotted lines in Fig. 1 and designated 22. Mounted in the recess 23 o lthe cutting portion of the die is the hard steel plate 24; which is heldin position by the dowels 25 which pass through the said plate and thedie. Also mounted in the recess 23 is the piercer guide bar 26 which isheld in position by the dowel pins 25. The piercer guide bar is providedwith a plurality ot' holes 27 which are each provided tion of the die isIDZIClQ adjustable to vary with a hard steel bushing 28. Also mountedthe curvatures of the steel shanks which on the die are the guides 29for the. ribbon may vary according to the height of the steel, and abovethe guide isinounted the for supporting the instep or arch of the foot,and the object of the invention is to provide asimple, inexpensive andelficient apparatus for forming said shoe shank which will greatlyreduce the cost of manufacture and increase the production thereof.

Another object is to provide an apparatus for forming shoe shanks whichwill produce shanks of uniform curvature and even temper.

A further object is to provide an apparatus which will be adjustable tosuit the varying lengths and curvatures of shoe shanks.

A still further object is to provide an apparatus in which the shankswill be desired curvature with each stroke of the apparatus.

In ,my invention 1 provide a die and punch made in two portions, oneportion of each being used for shearing and piercing tion of each usedfor bending the material to the desired curvature. The die is providedwith a plurality of holes through which piercers adjustably mounted inthe punch are adapted to pass, so that the pitch of the holes to bepunched in the shank may be varied to accommodate the various lengths ofthe shoe shanks. The other porstripper plate which is also provided witha plurality of apertures 31 to allow the piercers hereinafter describedto pass throu 'h. The 'uides are sJaced trom one another and may be madeadjustable to allow for the varying widths of the spring steel used andboth the guides and the stripperplate are held in position by thecountersunk screws 32. Supporting plungers' formed in the underside ofthe die. Springs 7 iltiarc fitted in the recess and, acting against thehead hold the plung'ers inposition so that the ribbon steel passes overthe points 3'? of the plunger-s. The guides extend approximately fromone end to within a short distance of the centre of the die. Atthe otherend of the die the'bending block 38 is niountet between the projections39 and e0 the centre of the bending; block being provided with a curvedrecess ll into which the spring; steel is pressed by the curving punchhereinafter desc'ibed. To position the bending block screws 4e2-areprovided pas through thepr jection 39 the bending block, and screwed inthreaded apertures 43 formed in the projection 4:0 The.

screv also hold in position o stop i l which butts against theprojection 89, and lS-SPtlCQCl. from the upper edge of the projection 39n. bevelled to 'lorn a cutting edge for steel. The stop all is placedbetween the piercing section and the bending section of the die. Toprovide adj ustmcnt, 45 are placed between the projections O and thebending block 38-. The

ee a base 46 having); auex- 47 which may be used for .id punch to thevertical -noving of a llliss or the like press, not ()n eed above thepiercing portion ol the die is e. hard steel plate 48 and a piercecholding plate punch bynieansof the countersunk screws The plate isprovided with a pluapertures 51 thrs-iugh hich the are placed, saidpiercers be.

: il lp' i .P' Md with a head m3 h ing in-a slot oi tl'irough holes inthe punch to positiouthe punch and he die in the above relationshipPositioned above the projection 40 or": the die and secured tothe punchby the-screws 53 s the knife blade :43 the edge 55 of which is the lowerside of the punch and secured to the base ot the in the plateatf). Thecentre of the ape" bevelled to form a cutting edge. The side 56 of theblade is so positioned that when the punch and die are brought togethersaid side will be approximately against the sides 57 of the projection.The bending portion of the punch is provided with a curved blockslidably mounted in a groove 59 cut in the base. The block is adjustablyheld in the slot 60 formed in the base and through which the stud 61attached to the block may he moved, said stud being locked in anydesired position by means of the nut 62. The foregoing descriptionrefers to the simplest form of my invention, but this may be modifled asshown in Figs. 5 to 10 inclusive which shows a bending portion which isprovided with a finer; means of adjustment. The remaining; portionsbeing similar to those shown in Figs. 1 110:4; inclusive and each partis provided with the same designating numerals.

In the modification between the projecting portions 39 and 40 aremounted the curved shaped blocks 63 and 64 which are'held between theguides 65 connecting the projections and in the slot 66 formed in theunderside otthe die. Theblocks are mounted on a spindle (37 having rightand left hand threaded portions 68and69 which engage withcorrespondingly threaded apertures 111' the blocks so thatson tu ningthe ds one ycrew the blocks approach towar another or travel away tromone another according .to the rotation of the spindle.

The spindle is held in position by means of a sleeve 70 passing throughthe projection 39 and is locked in any desired position by means of thegrooved key 71 engaging with the sleeve. Temporary adjustments are madeby means of the sleeves and finer adjustments made by means of thespindle. The bending portion 58 of the punch is made adjustable in thevertical direction by splitting it into two portions 72 and 73 and beingprovided with horizontal teeth 7%" and 1 74 which engage with oneanother. The

parts are held together by means of the screws 7 5,. one part of whichrides in the slots 76 and the other part engages with the :threadedapertures 76. A plunger 77 may be slidably mounted in the bending block72 am. .73 and a spring 77 placed between the base portion and the headof the plunger to holdit in position. This plunger is provided torholding the spring steel in position until thespring steel is bent tothe required curvature. The nae-ration of the device is as follows:Sprii-ig steel is passed through the piercing die between the guides,and the piercers are adjusted in the punch to the required pitch. In,the, first part of the open ntion the shank is sheared and punched only.

the spring plunger bringing the spring steel a must, the ehcdder plateor. stripping plate to allow the piercers to be drawn clear of thesteel. After the first operation one shank .is sheared andpicrced whilethe other is bent to any required angle by means of the bending blockswhich may be adjusted to suit any desired cuiyature. When altering thedie, plates l may be taken from one side of the bending block to theother and may be held in position by means of the screws. Readjustmentmay be also made in the punch to alter the varying position of thecentre of the bending block. In the device shown in Figs. 5 to inclusivethe length of the bending block may be varied, said bending block beingmade in two portions, each portion being provided with engaging teethand the binding screws are fitted in slots formed in one of the portions"after which the finer adjustments may be made by rotating the threadedspindle. As

will be seen, this punch and die mechanism can be adjusted to suit thevarying lengths of shoe shanks and by slight modifications may be madeto cover the manufacture of all classes of shanks interchangeable andnon-interchangeable. The device may be fitted to any class of press (notshown). The shanks being made of spring steel of uniform temper andbeing subjected to the same pressure and operations, are of uniformcurvature and length after the operation and when the shanks are fittedto the shoes the arches will be alike and hold the shoes in the desiredshape.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. An apparatus ofthe character described comprising upper and lower the members bending,shearing and punching elements adjustably carried .by each die memberand cooperating with the complementary elements of the other die member,means "for rigidly securing the elements of each set to the die men'iberwhen said elements are in the desired position of adjustment, thearrangement being such that the bending she-aringand punching operationsare accomplished simultaneously by movement of one of said die membersin the direction of the other die member.

2. An apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the punching means of theupper die member is adjustable, vertically and horizontally while thecon'iplementary punching means of the lower die member is adj ustable inthe horizontal direction to rcgu late the curving o't theshank.

3. rin apparatus for forming spring steel shoe shanks comprising a punchhaving picrcers mounted in the punch, means for positioning the piercersin one end of the punch, shearing knife secured to the punch, a bendingblock mounted' in the punch and attached thereto means for adj ustingthe bending block in combination with a die having means for guiding theshank, means for guiding the piercers, spring controlled means forsupporting the shank before shearing and punching, a stripper plate fordisengaging the shank from the picrcers, means for suppo:.ting the shankduring the process of shearing, and a curved supporting block adjustablymounted in the die.

4:. An apparatus for forming shoe shanks from spring steel con'iprising,a punch haw ing piercers mounted therein, means for holding the piercersin any desired position, a bending block mounted in the punch, means foradjusting the block in the horizontal direction, and a knife mountedbetween the piercers and the bending block and secured to the punch incombination with a die having, at one end guides for the piercers,guides for the spring steel, spring controlled plunger supports for thespring steel before shearing same, and at the other end blocks forholding the steel during the process of bending, and midway between theholding blocks and the guides for the shank means secured to the die forsupporting the steel during the process of shearing.

5. A shoe shank forming apparatus according to claim 4 having means foradjusting the bending block in the punch, in the vertical direction.

6. In an apparatus for forming shoe shanks, a punch comprising a baseportion having piercers mounted therein, means for holding the piercersto the punch and positioning the piercers in any desired position, atwo-piece bending block mounted in the punch, means for adjusting thebending block in the horizontal direction, a serrated joint between theportions or pieces of the bending block, and means for ad usting part ofthe bending block in the vertical direction and a shearing knife securedto the punch and positioned between the piercers and, the bending blocksin combination with a die having a. base, guides for shoe shank steeland the picrcers secured to the base. said guide? being positioned atone end ot' the base, two projecting portions at the other end and madeintegral with the base, a twopiece shanlcsupporting block mountedbetween the projections and slidably mounted in the base, a sleeve, aspindle mounted in the sleeve and secured to the blocks so that onrotation of said spindle the blocks will move towards or away from. oneanother, means for positioning said sleeve in one of the projectingportions, and spring-oon'- trolled positioning means for the springsteel.

7. A device according to claim 6, having springpontrolled positioningand releasing means forthe spri-i-lg steel before bending,- said meansbeing positioned in the tWopiece bending block. 7 10 In Witness whereof,I have hereunto set my hand.

GHRISTO'PHER C. CUNNINGHAM

